The present invention relates to vehicle horns, and more particularly to a method of actuating a horn, and a mechanism for implementing the method, which facilitates reliable user actuation of a horn during potentially hazardous situations.
With the evolution of vehicle design, placement of the switch for actuation of a vehicle horn has been correspondingly altered to accommodate newly added or changing features. For example, many passenger vehicles are now provided with cruise controls and audio volume and channel selectors in a readily accessible position on the steering wheel to simplify selection by a driver of the various parameters controlled thereby during operation of the vehicle, for the intended purpose of improving safely by obviating the need to search for the controls remotely located elsewhere on the dashboard and/or for improved driver convenience. Supplemental placement of horn actuation switches or buttons adjacent such auxiliary controls is not generally practiced for fear that the driver may confuse the horn actuation mechanism with the proximately located audio or cruise control button. Horn buttons which were therefore once conventionally located in the positions now occupied by the aforementioned controls have consequently been abolished and are placed instead in a central area of the steering wheel.
Such central placement of the horn actuation mechanism, however, creates design and safety problems associated with the addition of passive restraint systems requiring placement of an airbag behind the centrally located horn actuation switch. In addition, since the centrally located horn actuation mechanism is directly in front of the airbag, in an emergency situation in which a horn is actuated by the hand of the driver and which situation concludes in an accident in which the airbag is deployed, the driver's hand will be in the path of such deployment, resulting in the potential for unnecessary injury to the driver's hand or face. Also, such location central of the steering wheel prevents actuation of the horn mechanism by the same hand holding the wheel. As such, a driver using a cellular phone, holding a cup of coffee or the like, or in the extreme case, a handicapped driver deprived of the use of one of his hands or arms, will be unable to operate the horn while maintaining controlled steering of the vehicle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a horn actuation mechanism which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a horn actuation mechanism which may be operated reliably by the same hand grasping the steering wheel and in which confusion with other controls is effectively avoided.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a horn actuation mechanism which is accurately controlled by hand manipulation of same for actuation in a manner and intensity as intended by the driver.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a horn actuation mechanism which may be implemented in a cost effective, attractive and simplified manner.